Implantable medical devices are used for treating cardiac dysfunction. Cardiac pacemakers, for example, are implantable medical devices that replace or supplement a heart's compromised ability to pace itself by delivering electrical pacing pulses to the heart.
Rate controlled pacemakers are operated in accordance with a measured physiological variable that corresponds to exertion level and is reflective of the body's metabolic rate. Minute ventilation is an indicator of the rate of oxygen consumption and thus, exertion level. Minute ventilation corresponds to the amount of air breathed by a subject over a minute, or other specified period of time, and can be computed as the product of respiratory rate and tidal volume.
An impedance measurement technique is sometimes used for measuring minute ventilation. The blood and body fluids within the thoracic cavity constitute a volume conductor. The electrical impedance between two points in the thoracic cavity is dependent upon the volume of blood or air between those points. The impedance can be measured by generating a constant current field within the cavity and then measuring the potential difference between the two points.
Interference with the impedance signal, for example, by environmental noise, however, can compromise the ability of the impedance measurement to accurately reflect the patient's actual ventilation. Interference may also result from an intermittent lead, poor lead placement, lead maturation, lead migration or a poor baseline. Such interference may result in delivery of improper pacing. For example, a dislodged lead may erroneously call for an increased pacing rate. As another example, an increased pacing rate may be indicated by an accelerometer responding to a bump detected while driving in an automobile.